A leafhopper is the common name for any species from the family Cicadellidae. These minute insects, colloquially known as hoppers, are plant feeders that suck plant sap from grass, shrubs, or trees. Their hind legs are modified for jumping, and are covered with hairs that facilitate the spreading of a secretion over their bodies that acts as a water repellent and carrier of pheromones. They undergo a partial metamorphosis, and have various host associations, varying from very generalized to very specific. Some species have a cosmopolitan distribution, or occur throughout the temperate and tropical regions. Some are pests or vectors of plant viruses and phytoplasmas. The family is distributed all over the world, and constitutes the second-largest hemipteran family, with at least 20,000 described species.
The Peloridiidae or moss bugs are a family of true bugs, comprising eighteen genera and thirty-four species. They are small, ranging in length from 2 to 4 mm, rarely seen, peculiarly lumpy, flattened bugs found in Patagonia, New Zealand, eastern Australia, Lord Howe Island, and New Caledonia. All the Peloridiidae species are flightless, except one. Their present distribution suggests they have existed since before the breakup of Gondwana, and their relation to Heteroptera dates back to at least the upper Permian, more than 230 million years ago. Peloridiids are found amongst mosses and liverworts, commonly in association with southern beech forests. They have become known as moss bugs for their habit of feeding on mosses.
The Auchenorrhyncha suborder of the Hemiptera contains most of the familiar members of what was called the "Homoptera" – groups such as cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, planthoppers, and spittlebugs. The aphids and scale insects are the other well-known "Homoptera", and they are in the suborder Sternorrhyncha.
Cicadashterasdertaly is an infraorder of the insect order Hemiptera which contains the cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, and spittlebugs. There are approximately 35,000 described species worldwide. Distributed worldwide, all members of this group are plant-feeders, and many produce either audible sounds or substrate vibrations as a form of communication. The earliest fossils of cicadomorphs first appear during the Late Permian.
A planthopper is any insect in the infraorder Fulgoromorpha, in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, and exceeding 12,500 described species worldwide. The name comes from their remarkable resemblance to leaves and other plants of their environment and from the fact that they often "hop" for quick transportation in a similar way to that of grasshoppers. However, planthoppers generally walk very slowly. Distributed worldwide, all members of this group are plant-feeders, though surprisingly few are considered pests. The infraorder contains only a single superfamily, Fulgoroidea. Fulgoroids are most reliably distinguished from the other Auchenorrhyncha by two features; the bifurcate ("Y"-shaped) anal vein in the forewing, and the thickened, three-segmented antennae, with a generally round or egg-shaped second segment (pedicel) that bears a fine filamentous arista.
The Cixiidae are a family of fulgoroid insects, one of many families commonly known as planthoppers, distributed worldwide and comprising more than 2,000 species from over 150 genera. The genera are placed into three subfamilies, Borystheninae, Bothriocerinae and Cixiinae with sixteen tribes currently accepted in Cixiinae.
Coleorrhyncha or Peloridiomorpha, also known as moss bugs or beetle bugs, are a suborder of Hemiptera and represent an ancient lineage of moss-feeding insects that evolved in the southern paleo-continent Gondwana. They show some similarities to the Heteroptera but have been considered distinct. It has a single extant family, the Peloridiidae. Three other families have been established on the basis of fossils and these include the more ancient Progonocimicidae and the later Karabasiidae and Hoploridiidae. The Coleorrhyncha were earlier included within the "Homoptera" but based on studies of their morphological similarities as well as molecular phylogeny are now considered as a sister group of the Heteroptera. They have wings in some species which are reduced in others but all species are flightless and live in damp moss habitats and are associated with the distribution of Nothofagus trees in Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and South America.
Palaeontinidae, commonly known as giant cicadas, is an extinct family of cicadomorphs. They existed during the Mesozoic era of Europe, Asia, and South America. The family contains around 30 to 40 genera and around a hundred species.
Gerroidea is a superfamily of semiaquatic bugs in the order Hemiptera. There are at least 3 families and more than 2,000 described species in Gerroidea.
Cixiinae is a planthopper subfamily in the family Cixiidae. It is one of three such subfamilies, the other two being the Bothriocerinae and the Borystheninae. While a few species had been tested in a larger study of the Fulgoroidea, neither the Cixiinae nor its tribes were analysed cladistically until 2002. Resolution of tribal relationships is incomplete and additional testing of the tribes with samples larger than one per tribe is needed.
Polymerus is a genus of plant bugs in the family Miridae. There are at least 100 described species in Polymerus.
Aetalionidae are a family of plant-hoppers or tree-hoppers in the superfamily Membracoidea. Aetalionidae are somewhat like Membracidae in that they have one to three rows of short spines on the hind tibia but differ in having the front femur fused to the trochanter and the scutellum is completely exposed. The females have finger-like protrusions on the genital capsule. The family is mostly Neotropical. The subfamily Biturritiinae is Neotropical while the subfamily Aetalioninae has a Neotropical genus Aetalion and the sole Old World representative genus Darthula with a single species Darthula hardwickii.
Miroidea is a superfamily of true bugs in the order Hemiptera. There are about 7 families and more than 15,000 described species in Miroidea.
Coelidiinae is a subfamily of leafhoppers in the family Cicadellidae. There are at least 8 tribes, 108 genera, and over 900 species in Coelidiinae.
Neocicada chisos, the chisos cicada, is a species of cicada in the family Cicadidae. It is found in Central America and North America.
Neocicada is a genus of cicadas in the family Cicadidae, with about five described species.
Neocicada hieroglyphica, the hieroglyphic cicada, is a species of cicada in the family Cicadidae. It is found in Central America and North America.
Nadejda "Nadia" Waloff FRES was a Russian-born English entomologist. She worked on the biology of locusts, flight and dispersal in the Hemiptera, and taught at the Imperial College.
Melizoderidae is a family of tree-hoppers restricted to South America with only two genera, Melizoderes and Llanquihuea. The nymphs of melizoderids have the tergum of the 9th segment concealing the anal opening from above. The frontoclypeus (forehad) is conves and extended forward and below. The pronotum extends forward and above but not backward over the scutellum which is keeled posteriorly.
Chandrashekaraswami Adiveyya Viraktamath is an Indian entomologist who specializes in the systematics of leaf-hoppers, Cicadellidae. He served as a professor of entomology at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore.
